Tsuki No Wa
Moon Beams
Boomkat Product Review:
Originally released in 2003, cult Tokyo four-piece Tsuki No Wa's third album is an eccentric masterpiece, muddling brain altering electro-acoustic elements with jazz, avant-rock, tropicalia and folk. Nowt else quite like this!
This is how you do a reissue - there are no demos or offcuts here, just a fresh mix of the original album handled by the band, a new mastering job from Josh Bonati and new album art, with unseen photos. 'Moon Beams' was a coming of age for Tsuki No Wa that found them leaning into their ambitions; they recorded the album at an abandoned (long since demolished) Meiji-era ballet studio and let their experimental tendencies run wild, offsetting their poppy compositions with bizarre synth effects and hypnotic processes. The band was formed at the turn of the millennium by bandleader and vocalist/guitarist Fuminosuke, and by their third and final album comprised Ghost bassist Takuyuki Moriya, Shintaro Sakamoto band drummer Yuta Suganuma and multi-instrumentalist Takumi Ito. But the record pulls away from its predecessors thanks to engineer Hiromits Shoji's peculiar modulations and recording techniques, and the inclusion of work from a dizzying cast of collaborators, including Yoshihide Otomo, Ami Yoshida and percussion outfit Mi-ne.
It doesn't take long before we witness the scope of their vision either; on opener 'She. Rain', collaborator DJ Klock's glitchy, hiccuping beat slides in-and-out of sync with Fuminosuke's breathy vocals and the band's chaotic cabaret grooves. Overloaded with ASMR synth squelches and overlapping off-kilter harmonies, it sounds like three tracks playing at once - like a GRM-ready deconstruction of opera, indie-exotica (think High Llamas or Sterolab) and outsider noise. And Tsuki No Wa are even more inscrutable on 'Plein Soleil', accompanying Mi-ne's ritualistic percussion with dimly lit Parisian accordions and moody double-bass plucks. Led by a poetry reading from Mikako Ichikawa, 'I'm wandering cowboy' strips thing down considerably, accompanying Ichikawa's voice with brassy instrumental squeaks and lowercase synth deviations, and just as you've got your head around it, the track takes a dramatic left turn, subliming into a dubbed-out folk/country daydream. The fusion isn't obvious at any point, and still sounds unique over two decades later - just take a peep at the title track, an minimalist piano-led melter that's disrupted by barely-audible buzzing interference.
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3 sides (Side D is blank). Double panel gatefold jacket with gold foil lettering.
Estimated Release Date: 31 January 2025
Please note that shipping dates for pre-orders are estimated and are subject to change
Boomkat Product Review:
Originally released in 2003, cult Tokyo four-piece Tsuki No Wa's third album is an eccentric masterpiece, muddling brain altering electro-acoustic elements with jazz, avant-rock, tropicalia and folk. Nowt else quite like this!
This is how you do a reissue - there are no demos or offcuts here, just a fresh mix of the original album handled by the band, a new mastering job from Josh Bonati and new album art, with unseen photos. 'Moon Beams' was a coming of age for Tsuki No Wa that found them leaning into their ambitions; they recorded the album at an abandoned (long since demolished) Meiji-era ballet studio and let their experimental tendencies run wild, offsetting their poppy compositions with bizarre synth effects and hypnotic processes. The band was formed at the turn of the millennium by bandleader and vocalist/guitarist Fuminosuke, and by their third and final album comprised Ghost bassist Takuyuki Moriya, Shintaro Sakamoto band drummer Yuta Suganuma and multi-instrumentalist Takumi Ito. But the record pulls away from its predecessors thanks to engineer Hiromits Shoji's peculiar modulations and recording techniques, and the inclusion of work from a dizzying cast of collaborators, including Yoshihide Otomo, Ami Yoshida and percussion outfit Mi-ne.
It doesn't take long before we witness the scope of their vision either; on opener 'She. Rain', collaborator DJ Klock's glitchy, hiccuping beat slides in-and-out of sync with Fuminosuke's breathy vocals and the band's chaotic cabaret grooves. Overloaded with ASMR synth squelches and overlapping off-kilter harmonies, it sounds like three tracks playing at once - like a GRM-ready deconstruction of opera, indie-exotica (think High Llamas or Sterolab) and outsider noise. And Tsuki No Wa are even more inscrutable on 'Plein Soleil', accompanying Mi-ne's ritualistic percussion with dimly lit Parisian accordions and moody double-bass plucks. Led by a poetry reading from Mikako Ichikawa, 'I'm wandering cowboy' strips thing down considerably, accompanying Ichikawa's voice with brassy instrumental squeaks and lowercase synth deviations, and just as you've got your head around it, the track takes a dramatic left turn, subliming into a dubbed-out folk/country daydream. The fusion isn't obvious at any point, and still sounds unique over two decades later - just take a peep at the title track, an minimalist piano-led melter that's disrupted by barely-audible buzzing interference.
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